Trois Pièces Faciles / Cinq Pièces Faciles / Concerto Per Due Pianoforti Soli / Sonata For Two Pianos

This release, catalogued as WER 60 003, collects several of Igor Stravinsky’s works composed for piano duo, spanning from his earlier Russian period to his neoclassical maturity. The collection features the Trois Pièces Faciles and Cinq Pièces Faciles, lighthearted compositions created between 1915 and 1917, contrasted against the rigorous structures of the Sonata for Two Pianos and the Concerto for Two Pianos. These works were written to explore the percussive and polyphonic capabilities of the piano, often reflecting the composer’s interest in clockwork-like precision and objective musical form.

The WERGO label, founded in West Germany, established its reputation during the mid-20th century by championing contemporary and avant-garde music. This specific pressing reflects the label's commitment to high-fidelity documentation of the twentieth-century canon. By pairing these specific piano works, the label provided a focused study of Stravinsky's stylistic evolution, framed by the austere, minimalist aesthetic common to WERGO’s mid-century catalog design, which prioritized the intellectual weight of the compositions over decorative presentation.